 |
| |  |
| | | |
| STUDENT BIOGRAPHY |
|
| <-- Back
|
| Alisa Umanskaya |
| Graduate Student |
|
|
| I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, and graduated from Hunter College with a double major in Biological Sciences and English Literature in June ‘09. Throughout my undergraduate years, I pursued a project with post-doc Luiz Pedro Sorio de Carvalho, PhD, in Dr. Carl Nathan’s lab at Weill Cornell Graduate School that utilized biochemistry, molecular biology and microbiology in order to identify, purify, and characterize a molecule produced by a clinical isolate of Staphylococcus hominis, which confers anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis activity using Mycobacterium bovis BCG as a model system. Though I was able to achieve partial purification of the molecule and learn techniques in these various fields, the most gratifying aspect of my work was my interaction with my mentors and peers, and the introduction to the scientific community that the experience provided for me.
In addition to this, I participated in the Program for Women in Science and Engineering at Iowa State University in the summer of ‘06, in the laboratory of Dr. Gustavo Macintosh. The goal of the project was to study the evolutionary relationship between the RNase A and T2 RNase families by characterizing T2 RNase activity in zebrafish (Danio rerio) . This served as my introduction to molecular biology, as my contribution to the work included identifying and cloning two T2 RNase family members, and determining various gene expression and co-localization trends.
I am interested in pursuing work that is disease-related during my years at Columbia. My research interests include biochemistry, molecular biology, and structural biology, though I am interested in learning more about other fields through my rotations.
In my free time, I love to travel, to read fiction, and to explore New York, camera in hand. As a native of this city, I have learned that it always has something new to offer, and I look forward to spending my free time throughout my graduate years discovering and re-discovering it.
Publication
Hillwig MS, Rizhsky L, Wang Y, Umanskaya A, Essner JJ, MacIntosh GC.
Zebrafish RNase T2 genes and the evolution of secretory ribonucleases in animals.
BMC Evol Biol.
2009 Jul 20;9:170.
|
|
| |
| | |
|
|
